A great way to see the fall colors is to ride your bike, which allows you to be outside and travel a good distance to catch a lot of scenery. So where should you go? Options abound in the suburbs.
Poplar Creek Trail link to Elgin: The Poplar Creek Trail between Hoffman Estates and Streamwood, and between Barrington Road and the west side of Route 59, will show some fall colors in spots, and now the trail links to Elgin via a new connection down forested Shoe Factory Road. That extends from Route 59 to the CN railroad tracks, at which point you could ride west through Elgin to the Fox River Trail (below).
Moraine Hills State Park: In this forested state park along River Road just east of the Fox River in McHenry and west of Island Lake, you’ll find a collection of trails, and the paved bike trail seen just off River Road is being extended to connect to Lily Lake Road. Ride this trail or the roads within the park surrounded by trees and their fall colors.
Raceway Woods: The Chicago Area Mountain Bikers organization has developed mountain biking trails in Kane County’s portion of this forest preserve by the old Meadowsdale Speedway in Carpentersville. In 2019, the group reached an agreement with Dundee Township to expand the trails. Now there are about 5 miles in this pretty preserve between the Fox River and Route 31. More at cambr.org.
Barrington Hills: A tree and biking-road paradise. Check out Spring Creek Road. Getting there is wonderful, too, but residents ask that you stay single file, please.
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